USS Monitor Center

Long before the start of the expedition that recovered the USS Monitor gun turret from the bottom of the Atlantic in 2002, Navy divers and NOAA archaeologists working to save the historic Civil War ship knew they might run into the remains of lost sailors.

More than a dozen crewmen were believed to have gone down with the doomed ironclad in a Cape Hatteras, N.C., storm, and the only escape from below decks was through a hatch in the top of turret.

Not until the first glints of human bone appeared some 235 feet below the surface, however, did the grim reality of the sailors' sacrifice transform the historic naval artifact into an iron coffin. That's when the challenge of...

Related "USS Monitor Center" Articles

Long before the start of the expedition that recovered the USS Monitor gun turret from the bottom of the Atlantic in 2002, Navy divers and NOAA archaeologists working to save the historic Civil War ship knew they might run into the remains of lost...